Or Fire, then The Peace War. Maybe dip into True Names, followed by Shockwave Rider by John Brunner.

Many people didn't like Deepness much. But the sequel to Fire, Children of the Sky, was interesting.

For me A Deepness in the Sky is his best, and one of the most memorable novels I've read.

The Peace War is a fascinating exploration of "what if this one thing was possible?" and all its terrible consequences, but Deepness grabbed me much more as a story.

In either case, definitely read The Shockwave Rider by Brunner.

Personally I found Fire and Deepness to be equally, profoundly, good. Haven’t found any other Vinge books to be nearly as good.

I quite enjoyed Rainbow's End as well.

There's an extra apostrophe there... this is addressed toward the end of the novel.

Yes, it's not "The end of this particular rainbow", it's "rainbows have an end". It bugged me until I got to that part of the book.

That comment is a bit of a spoiler, isn't it?